Mug shot poster banned by High Court

10:40AM BST 12 Jun 2003

The High Court has banned an innovative anti-crime poster campaign designed by Essex police, saying that more information was needed before it would allow a convicted burglar's mug shot to be displayed in his home town.

Lawyers for Gary Ellis, currently serving a three-and-a-half year sentence for theft offences, claimed a legal victory in a test case challenge against what they called a "maverick scheme" to put up the posters in Ellis's home town of Brentwood.

However the court stressed it was not granting declarations that Ellis had sought but calling for "more information".

Lord Woolf, the Lord Chief Justice, sitting with Mr Justice Goldring, said that "there is a need for appraisal and monitoring of the scheme and a structured assessment of the risks involved, backed by more information and appropriate professional advice.

He added that the question of whether the scheme was lawful "can only be finally answered when the court considers the circumstances of a specific individual's case" following the further appraisal.

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Lawyers for 28-year-old Ellis, a divorced father with a five-year-old daughter, asked the judges to rule that posting his mug shot with his name and convictions on 40 or more sites breach his right to a private family life under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

His family would also be unfairly and unlawfully stigmatised.

The case was being closely watched by other police forces around the country which are considering introducing similar schemes.